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When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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Summer may be winding down, but when it comes to entertainment, the year has just begun. Much like the film business, the music industry releases its big guns in the second half of the year, with some of the most anticipated albums of the year slated to be dropped in the fall. The influx of new indie and DIY artists has kept the music scene interesting, but for all you old schoolers yearning for some new music from familiar names, fall will definitely be your season.
Wu-Tang Clan: A Better Tomorrow (TBA)Although there’s no official release date as of yet, Wu-Tang Clan’s sixth studio album, A Better Tomorrow, is tentatively scheduled to be released in November. The album is a milestone, marking the group’s 20th anniversary, and will feature the late, great ODB’s vocals on a few tracks.
The Roots &amp; Elvis Costello: Wise Up Ghost (September 17)What do you get when you put one of the greatest hip hop acts with one of the greatest rockers? Pure awesomeness, of course. The Roots’ ?uestlove first hinted to a collaborative album in January in an interview with Billboard magazine, and a release date followed soon after. As if Roots + Costello wasn’t enough, the record will also feature a guest appearance from La Marisoul, lead singer of La Santa Cecilla.
Elton John: Diving Board (September 13)In between performing at Caesar’s in Vegas, having kids, and hanging with Lady Gaga, Elton John managed to squeak out new music that will make up his 30th solo album, NBD. The album is John’s second studio album without his band members since 1979’s Victim Of Love and will feature twelve new songs and three piano interludes.
Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (November 5)Eminem’s new album is the definition of “anticipated,” since the first single (the Beastie Boys-inspired “Berserk”) has already been crowned one of the hottest singles of the year and the album is a sequel to 2000’s brilliant Marshall Mathers LP. The album is produced by Dr. Dre and Rick Rubin, and is expected to debut sky-high on the charts.
Mariah Carey: The Art Of Letting Go (TBA)Speaking of Eminem, Mariah Carey’s got a new record set to drop sometime this year, as well. The album’s release has had more dates than most people have in a week, but what’s (semi)certain is that Carey’s fourteenth studio album will be released in the next few months. The last release date was July 2013, which Carey pushed back because she didn’t want to “exclude meaningful songs.” All this waiting is making for some serious expectations.
Drake: Nothing Was The Same (September 24)Drake’s third album has everyone holding onto their hats, thanks to the star-studded line-up he’s already confirmed will be making an appearance on his album. The Canadian rapper will be joined by Jay Z, Future, Lil Wayne, J. Cole, TLC, Justin Timberlake, Aiko, Big Sean, and more.
Arctic Monkeys: AM (September 10)British rockers Arctic Monkeys have made a solid career for themselves, going from the English equivalent of a bunch of frat boys to a respectable band made up of 4 talented musicians. Their fifth studio album, AM, finds the band getting some hip hop inspiration and also features an appearance from Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme.
Kings of Leon: Mechanical Bull (September 24)Mechanical Bull has Kings of Leon taking on a bunch of new directions at once, with lead singer Caleb Followill telling Rolling Stone that the album is influenced by everyone from Queens of the Stone Age to Sly and the Family Stone. It'll definitely be interesting to see how the new tunes from the Nashville rockers turn out.
Arcade Fire: Reflektor (October 29)After their wildly successful 2011 album, The Suburbs, Arcade Fire are finally back with their fourth studio album. The album has been getting hyped since The Suburbs was still going strong, since everyone wanted to see what the band had up their sleeve next. Arcade Fire released some teasers for the record, including a 40-second video montage of the band in the studio that dropped on September 9.
M.I.A.: Matangi (November 5)By now, just about everyone in the world knows not to mess around with M.I.A. The outspoken artist has never been one to shy away controversy, and the situation surrounding the release of her new album has been no different. After a number of delays of release dates courtesy of Interscope Records, M.I.A. threatened to leak the album herself if the label didn’t commit to a date. Interscope finally bowed down and M.I.A.’s fourth studio album will be making its way into headlines everywhere come early November.
Lady Gaga: ARTPOP (November 11)Lady Gaga’s third album is already drumming up a lot of hype, thanks to the early release of the first single of the album, “Applause,” which was mysteriously leaked immediately after Katy Perry’s new single was mysteriously leaked. Gaga’s new album is anticipated strictly for the “What the hell will she do next?” factor, not to mention that it will be interesting to see how she fares against her fellow other pop tarts.
Miley Cyrus: Bangerz (October 4)Oh, Miley. What’s not to anticipate here? From her brand new image as a twerking ambassador to her Miami Vice-inspired album cover, everything about Cyrus’ new album screams “Look at me!”, and, judging by how long it took for her VMAs performance to die down, look at her we shall. Bangerz will make or break Miley’s venture into her new image, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all pans out.
Justin Timberlake: The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2 (September 27)Because 1 record isn’t enough for a grandiose comeback, Justin Timberlake will be releasing the second half of The 20/20 Experience at the end of September. Timberlake is at his best when he’s making music, and The 20/20 Experience provided a bevy of hits - hopefully the sequel will do the same.
Pearl Jam: Lightning Bolt (October 14)After 2009’s Backspacer, Pearl Jam fans are anxious to hear what the legendary band has to offer next. Produced by longtime Pearl Jam ally Brendan O’Brien, Lightning Bolt will be the band’s 10th record and will draw on everything from punk rock to Pink Floyd influences.
Sting: The Last Ship (September 24)Already a singer, songwriter, musician, and producer, Sting is looking to add playwright to his resume, what with his working on a musical set to debut on Broadway sometime in 2014. The Last Ship is Sting’s eleventh studio album and is inspired from his play, which looks at the 1980s decline of the shipbuilding industry in Newcastle, England. His first album since 2003’s Sacred Love, the record will feature appearances from Brian Johnson of AC/DC, Kathryn Tickell, The Unthanks, and more.
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After Dark Films
It seems a bit odd to take on a movie review of Courtney Solomon's Getaway, as only in the loosest terms is Getaway actually a movie. We begin without questions — other than a vague and frustrating "What the hell is going on?" — and end without answers, watching Ethan Hawke drive his car into things (and people) for the hour and a half in between. We learn very little along the way, probed to engage in the mystery of the journey. But we don't, because there's no reason to.
There's not a single reason to wonder about any of the things that happen to Hawke's former racecar driver/reformed criminal — forced to carry out a series of felonious commands by a mysterious stranger who is holding his wife hostage — because there doesn't seem to be a single ounce of thought poured into him beyond what he see. We learn, via exposition delivered by him to gun-toting computer whiz Selena Gomez, that he "did some bad things" before meeting the love of his life and deciding to put that all behind him. Then, we stop learning. We stop thinking. We start crashing into police cars and Christmas trees and power plants.
Why is Selena Gomez along for the ride? Well, the beginnings of her involvement are defensible: Hawke is carrying out his slew of vehicular crimes in a stolen car. It's her car. And she's on a rampage to get it back. But unaware of what she's getting herself into, Gomez confronts an idling Hawke with a gun, is yanked into the automobile, and forced to sit shotgun while the rest of the driver's "assignments" are carried out. But her willingness to stick by Hawke after hearing his story is ludicrous. Their immediate bickering falls closer to catty sexual tension than it does to genuine derision and fear (you know, the sort of feelings you'd have for someone who held you up or forced you into accessorizing a buffet of life-threatening crimes).
After Dark Films
The "gradual" reversal of their relationship is treated like something we should root for. But with so little meat packed into either character, the interwoven scenes of Hawke and Gomez warming up to each other and becoming a team in the quest to save the former's wife serve more than anything else as a breather from all the grotesque, impatient, deliberately unappealing scenes of city wreckage.
And as far as consolidating the mystery, the film isn't interested in that either, as evidenced by its final moments. Instead of pressing focus on the answers to whatever questions we may have, the movie's ultimate reveal is so weak, unsubstantial, and entirely disconnected to the story entirely, that it seems almost offensive to whatever semblance of a film might exist here to go out on this note. Offensive to the idea of film and story in general, as a matter of fact. But Getaway isn't concerned with these notions. Not with story, character, logic, or humanity. It just wants to show us a bunch of car crashes and explosions. So you'd think it might have at least made those look a little better.
1/5
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Hollywood star Hugh Jackman wowed British TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson as he showed off his driving skills on hit motoring show Top Gear, landing in third place on the programme's leader board. The Australian actor appeared on the show on Sunday (21Jul13) to take part in the Star In a Reasonably-Priced Car segment, in which famous faces race against the clock around a circuit in a family saloon.
Jackman was determined to impress and hared around the track in just one minute and 46.1 seconds - taking boxer David Haye's place in third spot, behind AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson and funnyman Jimmy Carr.
Watching film footage of Jackman hurtling around the circuit, a clearly impressed Clarkson told him, "Hey Hugh, this is not bad at all. I'm actually deeply impressed."

After last night's epic episode of True Blood, we can't wait to sink our teeth into next week's episode to uncover Sookie's ill-fate. Well, not only do we have next Sunday to look forward too, we also have a whole new season of sexually-charged vampires to get our blood pumping for! Oh yes. All your favorite vampers will be back again next year – True Blood has officially been renewed for a seventh season.
This news is expected considering True Blood is HBO's top-rated series. Even though this is the first season without Alan Ball, who created True Blood and ran the show from the start, season six's premiere on June 26th still managed to reel in a whopping 4.5 million viewers.
According to E! Online, Michael Lombardo, president of HBO Programming cheered in a statement, "True Blood remains a signature show for HBO, and a true phenomenon with our viewers. " He went on to share, "Thanks to [executive producer] Brian Buckner and his talented team, the show continues to be a thrill ride like nothing else on TV."
Just like Andy Bellfleur and his V, we are truly addicted to True Blood, so we can't wait to be glamoured by Vampire Bill once more. We are totally stoked for another eventful season full of vampires, fairies, shifter, werewolves, witches, and whatever other crazed species happen to inhabit the wild town of Bon Temps, Louisiana!
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Godzilla has finally gone viral with its Godzilla Encounter website. The new film from Legendary Pictures and director Gareth Edwards has launched a website featuring "news stories" that warn us of the first signs of Godzilla. There are only two stories up so far, but with Godzilla's Comic-Con panel happening July 20, we might be seeing more fairly soon.
The film will star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Richard T. Jones, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, David Strathairn, Patrick Sabongui, Yuki Morita, Brian Markinson, Juliette Binoche, Akira Takarada, Victor Rasuk, C.J. Adams, and Ken Watanabe. It's set to hit theaters on May 16, 2014.
As more stories break, keep an eye on the red letters in the headlines. They might tell us something later on.
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Actor/director Ron Howard was left red-faced after trailing behind in a driving challenge while appearing on U.K. motoring show Top Gear to promote his upcoming racing movie Rush. The Hollywood legend appeared on the TV show to discuss his new biographical action film, about the rivalry between 1970s Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda, but he put in a less than impressive performance when it was his turn to hit the racetrack.
Chatting to host Jeremy Clarkson, he blamed his slow lap on the fact he is used to driving American cars: "First of all, I will say the right-hand drive and the gearshift on the left was a concern to me. It definitely threw me. I implore anyone who has any interest in seeing my movie Rush, you know, I didn't drive in the movie! Real drivers drove in the movie."
The presenter then revealed the Happy Days star's lap was timed at one minute, 49.9 seconds - sending him to the bottom of the celebrity leaderboard, just in front of Genesis rocker Mike Rutherford in last place.
Howard's time put behind AC/DC star Brian Johnson, the current frontrunner, as well as actors Warwick Davis and Charles Dance and singer Joss Stone, but he insisted, "It wasn't quite as ugly as I imagined it would be. My director's eye on the outside had it looking pretty bad."
Clarkson joked, "We finally found something you can't do. Good at directing, brilliant in Happy Days, a charming human being... but utterly c**p at driving."

You don’t have to be a Shakespeare buff to enjoy Joss Whedon's modern adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. Filmed at Whedon’s house in only 12 days with a cast of his friends from various past projects, the movie stays true to the playwright's comedy, but places his prose in a more relatable setting. Unlike another Shakespeare adaptation that keeps the original language but uses a modern setting, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, Whedon's black-and-white interpretation is more casual and subtle.
Although the dialogue may be a bit hard to follow for those who aren't familiar with the play, the actors deliver their lines in such a way that makes their intent clear. You can understand when they are teasing, when they are fighting, and when they are being sarcastic (and there is a lot of sarcasm). They aren't giving dramatic performances on a stage; they are having normal conversations with each other that just happen to be spoken in flowery language.
As it turns out, many of today's romantic comedy tropes are found in the 400-year-old text. Full-of-himself playboy Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and independent, quick-witted Beatrice (Amy Acker) despise each other and are constantly bickering. Even if you haven’t read the play, I think you can guess what happens between them. The plot also includes a called-off wedding between Beatrice's cousin Hero (Jillian Morgese) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). Of course, there are elements of the story that wouldn't make sense in contemporary society, like Hero faking her death due to some big blow-up that arose because she might not be a virgin. But while there isn't always a happy ending in Shakespeare, for this rom-com, it's basically a given.
Much of the cast was already quite familiar with Shakespeare, because Whedon has hosted many readings of his plays over the years (one of which inspired this version of Much Ado). It's as though the audience was invited to one of Whedon's get-togethers... only there are also trapeze artists there for some reason. For Whedon fanatics, it's fun to see who the director rounded up to star in the film. (Look, it's Wesley! And Mal! And Agent Coulson!) Denisof and Acker pull off some physical comedy as they eavesdrop on conversations about each other, and Nathan Fillion is great in a small part as police officer Dogberry. It's obvious that the cast, as well as Whedon, have a sincere appreciation for Shakespeare's original work, but also had a fun time giving it their own twist.
4/5
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By now, you know if you're in or out for the Fast &amp; Furious franchise. Director Justin Lin took the wheel for the third installment, Tokyo Drift, and kicked it into high gear with an independent trilogy of films with episode four, Fast &amp; Furious. Now he's back for the sixth entry — finally, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and the rest of the gang are ready to go toe to toe with summer's most ludicirous blockbusters. Fast &amp; Furious 6 is a fantasy film, existing in a world where cars defy the laws of physics and logic is put on the back burner. It's more of the same, cranked up 100 times louder. Fans are going to love it.
After stealing millions and falling off the grid in Fast Five, Diesel's Dominic Torreto is recruited by lawman Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to hunt down international criminal/custom car enthusiast Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). Employing a team of expert drivers, Shaw is knocking off heists across Europe in hopes of assembling the ultimate weapon to sell off to the highest bidder. And there's a catch: Dominic's thought-to-be-dead lady friend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is part of Shaw's squad. The photographic evidence lights a fire under Dominic, and he gets Brian (Walker) and the rest of the gang back together to put an end to the evil doing.
What Lin does with the Avengers-esque setup of the Fast bros as a supersquad is simply astounding. Dominic and Co. travel to London to intercept Shaw and attack his plan like a swarm of fighter pilots in a WWII dogfight. The movie's not about racing anymore — even though there has to be (and is) a racing scene — and Lin pines for a bigger scale with more innovative action by abandoning the backgrounds of his characters and bestowing them with the power to fight crime. Could a roadster actually face off with a tank? Could a team of street drivers suddenly learn how to fight like they're Bruce Lee? Could Vin Diesel zoom off the edge of an elevated highway, fly in the air, land on a moving car, and survive? Fast &amp; Furious 6 doesn't ask "could," it just says "does."
The main issue with the film, that even diehard fans might agree with, is that the drama around the few major set pieces is an absolute bore. Clocking in at nearly two and a half hours, Fast &amp; Furious 6 feels like four seasons of a CBS procedural, with a bigger stunt budget. The twists and turns are episodic, continually returning to Torreto's homebase to formulate the next plan of attack and try and squeeze comedy out of the ensemble. (Funniest person in the movie? Ludacris as Tej — believe it). By the time Brian traces back through his past to an old nemesis — apparently the Fast franchise has a dense mythology worthy of callbacks — the talky moments feel like breaks for power napping. To keep the momentum, Lin shoots dialogue scenes as if they were chases, swirling camera movements and equally dizzying overacting. Just get to the cars already!
To combat superheroes and sci-fi epics, Fast &amp; Furious 6 is even bigger and crazier than before. But it's overload — even with adeptly conceived and executed stunts, the sixth (but not final) entry of Fast is a Porsche souped up with monster truck wheels. Yeah, it looks wild, but it doesn't work.
2/5
What do you think? Tell Matt Patches directly on Twitter @misterpatches and read more of his reviews on Rotten Tomatoes!
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You would think that at 70, you would start to slow down. But that's not the case for Betsey Johnson. The fashion designer, who is infamous for closing her runway shows by doing cartwheels and splits, says that she's still out doing her acrobatics, especially when it comes to promoting her new Style Network reality show, XOX, Betsey Johnson. "Promoting the reality show the last week in LA, I never did so many cartwheels and splits," Johnson tells Hollywood.com.
Johnson's reality show, which premiered May 12 and airs on Sunday nights, gives insight into what life is like for the designer and her daughter, Lulu. "It's been very creative, very real, very unscripted, very much following me and my work life and my daughter and her private life," Johnson explains. "And then it all comes together because we [Lulu and I] live in the same building and we're joined at the hip."
First, the show captures Johnson's fashion career as she goes to parties and runway shows. "My work follows me," she says. "That's why there doesn't have to be a script."
Johnson's daughter's life plays a major role in the story, too. "Lulu, unfortunately, had to go along with her divorce, a partnership for her business, [and a] breakup," Johnson says. So we get to see "what it's like to work for your mom for 15 years, fall in love, be a stay-at-home mom, have two kids, and then realize you want to come back to work."
But ultimately the show is about their mother-daughter relationship. "The main trip is I've been a single mom with Lulu since she was born," Johnson says. "We're very close, and I just won't let her go — and it's too close for comfort sometimes. That's what the reality show captures."
"It's very real," Johnson adds. "Sometimes I look at it and think, 'Someone could think that was planned, but it wasn't.' And it's funny, thank god."
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